Natural
Theology自然神學

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Truths about God
that can be learned from created things (nature, man, world) by reason
alone.真理的上帝，可以學到的東西從創建（自然，人，世界）的唯一的原因。The importance of natural theology to
Christian thought has varied widely from age to age, depending largely upon the
general intellectual
climate.的重要性自然基督教神學思想差異很大年齡的年齡，很大程度上取決於對一般智力的氣候。It first became a significant part of
Christian teaching in the High Middle Ages, and was made a fixed part of Roman
Catholic dogma in 1870 at Vatican Council
I.它第一次成為一個重要組成部分基督教教學的高級中古，並提出了固定的一部分，羅馬天主教教義在1870年在梵蒂岡理事會一

Its Dogmatic
Constitution on the Catholic Faith made it a matter of faith to believe that God
has revealed himself in two ways, naturally and supernaturally, and that "God
can certainly be known [certo cognosci] from created things by the natural light
of human reason. "The council sought thus to reaffirm, over against nineteenth
century secularized skeptics and especially philosophical truths are a
legitimate and true form of
theology.憲法及其教條主義的天主教信仰了問題的信心相信，上帝已發現自己在兩個方面，自然和supernaturally
，而且“上帝當然可以被稱為[ certo cognosci ]從創造的東西的自然光對人類理性“
。安理會尋求從而重申，在對十九世紀的世俗化持懷疑態度，尤其是哲學的真理是一種合法的和真正的神學。This teaching was one among several
factors which stimulated the growth of Neo-Thomism (Gilson, Maritian, etc.) in
the early twentieth century.這是一個教學的若干因素刺激增長的新Thomism （吉爾森， Maritian等）
，在20世紀初。But quite apart
from the original intent and later influence of this teaching, the Catholic
Church now stands committed to the belief that there are two
theologies.但是，除了從原來的意圖，後來這一影響教學，天主教會目前致力於認為，有兩個theologies 。

Ancient philosophers spoke of a
"natural theology," by which they meant philosophical discourse on the
essential, "divine" nature of things as distinguished from the accidental and
transient, and also philosophical truths about God as distinguished from state
cults and religious myths.古代哲學家以一種“自然神學”的意思，他們的哲學話語的基本，
“神聖”性質的東西不同於意外和短暫，也對哲學真理上帝不同於國有邪教和宗教神話。Scripture, however, spoke of the world
as created in time and sustained by its
Creator.聖經然而，以世界為創造和持續的時間由造物主。Creation points still toward its
Creator (what Protestants later called general revelation), but that it does so
is chiefly taught by Scripture (that is, special revelation) and confirmed in
experience rather than deduced by reason alone.創作點仍然邁向造物主（什麼所謂的新教徒後一般的啟示）
，但它這樣做主要是教聖經（即特殊的啟示） ，並證實了的經驗，而不是推導出唯一的原因。Only when the Judeo-Christian notion of
"creation" is made equivalent to the Greek philosophical notion of "nature,"
something never done directly by the Greek and Latin church fathers, is the
stage set for the development of a "natural
theology."只有在猶太教和基督教的概念“創造”了相當於希臘哲學概念的“自然”
，從來沒有做過的東西直接由希臘和拉丁教會的父親，是現階段定為發展的“自然神學” 。

The first great
proponent of a natural theology distinguishable from revealed theology was
Thomas Aquinas, the synthesizer of Greek philosophy and the gospel, who also
laid the groundwork for notions of "natural law," the ethical equivalent of
natural
theology.第一大提出者的自然神學有別於顯示神學是托馬斯阿奎那的合成希臘哲學和福音，誰也奠定了基礎概念的“自然法”的倫理相當於自然神學。Aquinas defined theology as a "science"
in the Aristotelian sense, that is, a definable body of knowledge with its own
sources, principles, methods, and content, and he insisted that beyond the
truths derived from the study of Scripture there was another body of
(compatible) truths based upon the application of reason to the created
world.阿奎那神學定義為“科學”的亞里士多德意義上說，這是一個明確的知識與自己的來源，原則，方法和內容，以及他堅持認為超越了真理源於聖經的研究是另一個機構的（兼容）真理根據應用的原因造成的世界。He supported this, as nearly all
Catholics have, with reference to Rom.他支持這一點，因為幾乎所有的天主教徒們，關於光盤。1:20-21 and to the actual
accomplishments of pagan philosophers, especially Aristotle. Such truths
included especially the existence of God, which he laid out in five famous
proofs near the beginning of his Summa (all of them essentially arguments for an
Ultimate Cause) and the attributes (eternity, invisibility, etc.) which
described God's nature.
1:20-21和實際成績的異教徒哲學家，特別是亞里士多德。這種真理列入特別是上帝存在，他制定了在五年附近著名的證據開始他的神學（所有這些基本論點的終極原因）和屬性（永恆，隱形等）
，其中敘述上帝的性質。These were then
complemented and enriched by supernaturally revealed truths such as the trinity
of persons in the Godhead and the incarnation of God in
Jesus.這些，然後補充和豐富了supernaturally揭示的真理，如三位一體的人在神體和化身上帝耶穌。

Nearly all
Catholic scholars of natural theology have built upon, refined, or qualified the
position first articulated by
Thomas.幾乎所有的天主教學者自然神學的基礎上，完善，或合格的立場首先闡明了托馬斯。In doing natural theology, first of
all, they do not mean to have reason replace faith or philosophical discourse
the grace of God revealed in
Christ.在這樣做的自然神學，首先，他們並不意味著有理由取代信仰或哲學話語的恩典上帝在基督裡發現。Faith and grace remain primary for all
believers, but natural theology offers the opportunity to establish certain
truths by means common to all
persons.信仰和寬限期仍主要為所有信徒，但自然神學提供了機會，以確定某些真理的方式共同所有的人。Second, those truths are not taken to
be "grounds" or "foundations" for additional, revealed
truths.其次，這些真理不採取是“理由”或“基金會”提供更多，揭示的真理。Yet if these truths are established, it
can be seen as "reasonable" to accept revealed truths as
well.然而，如果這些事實成立，它可以被看作是“合理的”接受揭示真理的。And thus Catholics are in fact inclined
to see a continuum between natural theology, that which is known of God by the
light of natural reason, and revealed theology, that which is known by the light
of faith.因此天主教徒其實是傾向於看到一個連續的自然神學之間，這被稱為上帝的輕自然原因，並透露神學，認為這是已知的參照信念。

The Protestant
Reformers objected to the impact of philosophy upon theology and insisted upon a
return to Scripture.新教改革者反對的影響，哲學和神學時堅持要求回到聖經。They assumed that all men had some
implicit knowledge of God's existence (Calvin's "sense of divinity"), but they
declared it useless apart from the revelation of God's will and grace in Jesus
Christ.他們認為，所有的人有一些隱含的知識，上帝的存在（卡爾文的“神感” ）
，但他們宣布它除了無用的啟示上帝的意志和優雅的耶穌基督。Several early confessional documents
(eg, the Westminster and the Belgic) do speak of God revealing himself in nature
(citing still Rom. 1:20-21), but this is revelation not fully comprehensible
apart from Scripture.早期教派的一些文件（例如，西敏寺和比利時）不談論上帝暴露自己的性質（援引仍然光盤。 1:20-21 ）
，但這是不完全的啟示理解除了聖經。Orthodox Protestants have generally
raised three major objections to natural
theology.東正教新教一般都提出了三個主要的反對意見自然神學。

First, it lacks
scriptural basis.首先，它缺乏聖經基礎。Read in context,
Rom.閱讀方面，光盤。1 and 2 teach that the pagan's natural
knowledge of God is distorted and turned only to his judgment, in no way to the
reasonable deduction of theological
truths.第1和第2教的異教徒的自然知識的上帝是扭曲和只把他的判斷，在沒有辦法的合理扣除神學的真理。Second, and perhaps most importantly,
natural theology effectively exempts human reason from the fall and the effects
of original sin.第二，也許是最重要的是，自然神學有效地免除了人類理性的下降，影響原罪。Man's reason is now as perverse as any
of his other faculties and therefore is not capable, apart from God's gracious
intervention, of finding its way back to God and truly knowing him. This point,
which involves quite different anthropological views, will doubtless continue to
divide Protestants and
Catholics.人的理由是不正當現在作為他的任何其他院系，因此不能夠，除了上帝的仁慈的干預，找到它的方式重新回到了天主，真正了解他。這一點，其中包括完全不同的人類學的觀點，無疑將繼續鴻溝的新教徒和天主教徒。Third, conceding the knowledge of God
arrived at by pagan philosophers (his being, invisibility, omnipotence, etc.),
Protestants object that this is wholly abstract and
worthless.第三，讓步的知識抵達上帝的異教徒哲學家（他是，隱形，無所不能，等等） ，新教徒對象，這完全是抽象的，毫無價值。This Supreme Being has little to do
with the God of judgment and mercy, of righteousness and love, revealed all
through Scripture and preeminently in Jesus
Christ.這最高法院作為沒有什麼與上帝的判斷和憐憫，正義和愛情，揭示所有通過聖經和preeminently在耶穌基督。When Protestants retain descriptions of
God's attributes, as they often have at the beginning of formal theologies, they
argue and illustrate them from Scripture, not from philosophical
discourse.當新教徒保留說明上帝的屬性，因為他們往往在年初正式theologies
，他們認為，說明他們從聖經，而不是從哲學的話語。

In modern times
the impact of the Enlightenment drove both Catholic and Protestant thinkers to
reduce the supernatural, miraculous elements and to construct a "natural
theology" open to reason and common to all
men.在近代的影響，將雙方的啟示天主教和新教的思想家，以減少超自然的，神奇的內容和建造一個“自然神學”開放的原因，共同對所有男性。Kant rejected all proofs for the
existence of God and sought to place religion "within the bounds of
reason."康德拒絕了所有的證明上帝存在，並設法進行宗教“範圍內的原因。 ”This more liberal form of natural
theology became very common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: the
famous Gifford Lectures, for instance, are supposed to promote "Natural
Theology."這更自由的形式的自然神學成為非常常見的十八和十九世紀：著名的吉福德講座，例如，是為了促進“自然神學” 。Scottish commonsense realism may
represent a unique effort to blend philosophy with fairly orthodox Christianity,
but in general the miraculous grace of God had disappeared from these forms of
theology.蘇格蘭常識現實可能代表了獨特的努力，結合哲學，相當正統的基督教，但在一般的奇蹟上帝的恩典失踪了，這些形式的神學。

In the twentieth
century the so-called dialectical theologians vigorously objected against
theologies which glossed over the radical intervention of God through Jesus
Christ and his
Word.在二十世紀所謂的辯證神學大力反對而反對theologies掩蓋激進的干預，上帝通過耶穌和他的話。Karl Barth in particular saw such
natural religion as the great foe of true faith and rejected the Catholic
"analogy of being" as an unwarranted jump (rather than deduction) from creation
to
Creator.卡爾巴特特別是看到這種自然宗教作為偉大的敵人真正的信仰和天主教會拒絕“的比喻是”作為一個無理的跳躍（而不是扣除）由造物主創造。Several others in turn, especially Emil
Brunner, objected that Barth's exclusive emphasis upon Christ and the Word
denied the reality of God's "general revelation" of himself in creation and
especially human creatures, his image-bearers, something attested in
Scripture.另一些反過來，特別是埃米爾布反對，認為巴特的獨家強調基督和Word否認的現實，上帝的“一般啟示”的自己，尤其是創造人類的動物，他的形象承擔，但需在聖經。

In recent times
natural theology has received comparatively little attention apart from a few
Catholic philosophers.近年來，自然神學已收到相對較少注意除了少數天主教哲學家。One interesting and related development
has occured in the field of the history of
religions.一個有趣的和相關的發展已發生在外地的歷史，宗教。Certain such historians (especially G.
van der Leeuw and M. Eliade) have discovered patterns of religious belief and
practice (a High God, a fall from a past Golden Age, various salvation motifs,
etc.) which do not make up a natural theology in the traditional sense, but
which they believe could yield an instructive prolegomenon to the study of
Christian
theology.某些歷史學家等（尤其是灣范德爾萊烏和M.伊利亞德）發現模式的宗教信仰與實踐（高上帝，跌幅從過去的黃金時代，各種救亡圖案等）
，不彌補自然神學傳統意義上的，但他們認為可能會產生一種啟發緒論，研究基督教神學。